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Dusty Saunders: ESPN's kingly realm had humble origins

Announcers George Grande, left, and Bob Ley couldn't have guessed just how popular ESPN and "SportsCenter" would become when they sat on the set in 1979.
(Associated Press file photo
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Anyone recall the Kentucky Bourbons and the Milwaukee Schlitz?

As leaders of the Slo-Pitch Softball League, they competed in a championship game on Sept. 7, 1979 — ESPN's first live cablecast seen by a few thousand viewers.

But even in that Stone Age TV era, ESPN had a sponsor — Budweiser.

Segue to Jan. 10, 2011, when the all-powerful sports network airs, for the first time, the BCS Championship between Auburn and Oregon (6:30 p.m.) from Glendale, Ariz.

Is it an understatement to note that ESPN has grown a bit in 30-plus years?

The network will utilize 11 announcers in covering tonight's game on ESPN, ESPN-3D, ESPN Radio and a variety of other services. ESPN has more platforms than a political party convention.

Of course, there'll be a pregame, starting at 4 p.m. And you can look into the pregame of the pregame at 1 p.m.

And you can still view throughout the day more "pregame activity" on ESPN and ESPNU, which are featuring reruns of previous BCS championship games and key contests from the 2010 seasons of Auburn and Oregon.

For those interested only in the game, ESPN features Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi.

"MNF" deal close.

It would be difficult for a weekly sports broadcasting columnist not to mention ESPN regularly in some form, considering the network's far-reaching tentacles in all major sports and a wide variety of minor competition.

Top executives are closing in on a new deal that would extend the network's rights to "Monday Night Football" and NFL draft coverage beyond 2020.

The price tag: nearly $2 billion a season — a 65 percent increase over the current "MNF" contract that runs through the 2013 season.

The deal will not include Super Bowl coverage. The NFL wants to stay with the broadcast networks for that crown jewel.

The report, neither denied nor confirmed by ESPN and the NFL, came initially from Sports Business Daily, a reputable publication.

ESPN obviously is awaiting the end of the BCS hoopla to make a formal announcement.

Consumers, who battle weekly to balance checkbooks, may wonder how ESPN can afford pricey sports contracts.

Keep in mind the network has a huge double revenue stream — carriage contracts with cable and satellite companies who must carry ESPN and dollars from high-end advertisers who scramble to get their products pitched to ESPN's desirable, affluent demographic.

So the inevitable future increases in your cable or satellite bills will be partly due to the higher fees ESPN will charge to deliver its product.

Controversial week.

ESPN is not immune from controversy.

Executives last week dropped veteran announcer Ron Franklin following "demeaning" comments he made to sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards during a conference prior to a network bowl game.

The network also apologized for "inappropriate" on-air behavior last Monday by anchors Hannah Storm and Josh Elliott and NFL insider Adam Schefter when they seemed to celebrate the firing of Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini.

The incident, according to USA Today and several websites, occurred during Schefter's report about NFL coaches who were on the hot seat.

A lot of "high-fiving" was seen on the air, not because Mangini was fired but rather because the ESPN cast was happy with the timing of the announcement as part of the news roundup.

Footnote.

Milwaukee beat Kentucky five games to four during ESPN's 1979 softball coverage.

Football dances to top of idol ratings

Mention prime-time network series with huge audiences and ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and Fox's "American Idol" always lead the pack.

Now add NBC's "Sunday Night Football," the most-watched evening series from Sept. 20 through Jan. 2, averaging more than 21.8 million viewers (up 12 percent from 2009).

"Dancing with the Stars" finished second.

Can "American Idol" draw a larger average audience when it returns Jan. 19?

NBC sports chairman Dick Ebersol is, obviously, in an upbeat mood — much more mellow than in January 1998 following Denver's Super Bowl win over Green Bay.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.